Ukraine crisis: Putin speeds up Russia pivot to Asia
Russian President Vladimir Putin said his government may offer China an opportunity to hold a share in one of the biggest energy projects in Siberia, the Vankor oil and gas field.
Putin made the tentative offer on Sept. 1 as he and China鈥檚 vice premier, Zhang Gaoli, presided over the launch of construction of the oil pipeline that will carry nearly 40 trillion cubic meters of gas to China over 30 years, earning Russia $400 billion during the period.
鈥淭he new gas branch will significantly strengthen the economic cooperation with countries in the Asia-Pacific region and, above all, our key partner China,鈥澨齛t the ceremony outside Yakutsk, the capital of Russia鈥檚 Republic of Yakutia.
In fact, China is so important a partner that Putin said it was likely that the Kremlin would permit Beijing to become a shareholder in the Vankor field in the eastern Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk. Vankor, owned by Rosneft, the state-run Russian oil giant that owns the field, has oil reserves estimated at 520 million metric tons and gas reserves of 95 billion cubic meters.
鈥淰ankor is one of the biggest production operations today and very promising,鈥澨�, according to a transcript of the event published on the Kremlin website. 鈥淥verall, we take a cautious approach to letting in our foreign partners, but we of course set no restrictions for our Chinese friends.鈥�
Putin added, 鈥淭he state authorities support this idea and we would welcome your participation.鈥�
Since Putin first became Russia鈥檚 president in 1999, the Russian government has increased its hold on the country鈥檚 enormous energy resources. In the process, it has kept Western oil and gas companies and even private Russian firms from developing them.
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Still, Russia needs the money and expertise available only from the West, especially at a time when the country鈥檚 oil companies are impeded by sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States because of Moscow鈥檚 suspected support of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
As a result, Rosneft is seen as being eager to offer partnerships in Vankor to foreign companies, including Britain鈥檚 BP, the state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. of India and ExxonMobil of the United States. The offer of a share to China indicates that Moscow is eager to show that it can get what it wants from partners in the East as well.
Meanwhile, at the ceremony outside Yakutsk, both Putin and Zhang听听the newly welded pipeline, a tradition in Russia on such occasions. The structure has been dubbed the 鈥淧ower of Siberia.鈥� Also present was Alexei Miller, the CEO of Gazprom, which will provide the gas to China.
鈥淕azprom is always a reliable supplier of gas to its customers,鈥� Miller said, 鈥渨hich also applies to the 鈥淧ower of Siberia.鈥�
Source:听
